Summation and Analysis of of "Twelfth Night"

Summary: A summary of the major plot points of Williams Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" with opinions from the author about the play and information about the themes of love and gender confusion.

1. Title: Twelfth Night or What You Will

Author: William Shakespeare

Author's date: 1564-1616

Date of first performance: 1623, in the First Folio

Period of play: Elizabethan

Awards: /

Main characters and their relationship

Viola is the main character in the play. She has a twin brother, Sevastian, who looks exactly like him, but the two of them are separated during a shipwreck. Viola then disguises himself as a male, and call herself Cesario. Cesario works Orsino, the Duke of Illyria, and soon falls in love with the handsome duke. However, Orsino is lately pursuing Olivier, whose is mourning over her recently dead brother and refuses to see anyone. Cesario (Viola), as the pager of the duke, helps him to send love messages to Olivier. When Olivier meets Cesario, she quickly falls in love with him. That sets up the basic "love triangle" of the play...